Genesis 11:7

Genesis 11:7 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
• New International Version (NIV)Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

Context of Genesis 11:7

5And Yhwh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6And Yhwh said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8So Yhwh scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because Yhwh did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Yhwh scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Genesis 11:7 word by word

הָ֚בָה נֵֽרְדָ֔ה וְנָבְלָ֥ה שָׁ֖ם שְׂפָתָ֑ם אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א יִשְׁמְע֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ שְׂפַ֥ת רֵעֵֽהוּ׃Read the interlinear

• Go toיָהַבyâhab · to giveH3051
• let us go downיָרַדyârad · to go downH3381
• and there confoundבָּלַלbâlal · to mixH1101
• their languageשָׂפָהώâphâh ώepheth · lip: languageH8193
• thatאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• they may not understandשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: understandH8085
• oneאִישׁ'îysh · man: anyoneH376
• another’sרֵעַrêa‛ rêya‛ · neighborH7453
• speechשָׂפָהώâphâh ώepheth · lip: wordsH8193

Cross-references for Genesis 11:7

• Genesis 11:5And Yhwh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
• Genesis 1:26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
• Genesis 3:22And Yhwh God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
• Isaiah 6:8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
• Job 5:12He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise.
• Job 12:20He removeth away the speech of the trusty, and taketh away the understanding of the aged.
• Psalms 2:4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
• Psalms 33:10Yhwh bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
• Acts 2:4And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
• Genesis 10:5By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.
• Genesis 42:23And they knew not that Joseph understood them; for he spake unto them by an interpreter.
• Deuteronomy 28:49Yhwh shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand;
• Psalms 55:9Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
• Jeremiah 5:15Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith Yhwh: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
• 1 Corinthians 14:2For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

Commentaries on Genesis 11:7

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 7Go to - A form of speech which, whatever it might have signified formerly, now means nothing. The Hebrew העה habah signifies come, make preparation, as it were for a journey, the execution of a purpose, etc. Almost all the versions understand the word in this way; the Septuagint have , the Vulgate venite, both signifying come, or come ye. This makes a very good sense, Come, let its go down, etc. For the meaning of these latter words see Genesis 1:26, and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1-9Verses 1-9 - The Confusion of Tongues 1. נסע nāsa‛ “pluck out, break up, journey.” מקדם mı̂qedem “eastward, or on the east side” as in Genesis 2:14; Genesis 13:11; Isaiah 9:11 (12). 6. החלם hachı̂lām “their beginning”, for החלם hăchı̂lām the regular form of this infinitive with a suffix. יזמוּ yāzmû as if from יזם yāzam = זמם zāmam נבלה nābelâh usually said to be for נבלה nābolâh from בלל bālal but evidently designed by the punctuator to be…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 5-9Verses 5-9 Here is an expression after the manner of men; The Lord came down to see the city. God is just and fair in all he does against sin and sinners, and condemns none unheard. Pious Eber is not found among this ungodly crew; for he and his are called the children of God; their souls joined not themselves to the assembly of these children of men. God suffered them to go on some way, that the works of their hands, from which they promised themselves…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 7Come, let Us go down: God speaks to his angelic court (see 1:26; 3:22; and study notes). will not understand one another’s speech: When people could no longer understand one another, their shared plan to do wrong would stop. Later, at Pentecost, God allowed people to understand many languages. This showed a partial reversal (undoing) of what happened at Babe (Acts 2:5–13; see Zephaniah 3:9).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 77. confound their language--literally, "their lip"; it was a failure in utterance, occasioning a difference in dialect which was intelligible only to those of the same tribe. Thus easily by God their purpose was defeated, and they were compelled to the dispersion they had combined to prevent. It is only from the Scriptures we learn the true origin of the different nations and languages of the world. By one miracle of tongues men were dispersed and…Read the comment

Topics related to Genesis 11:7

• Anthropomorphisms
• Babel
• Babylon
• Confusion
• Dispersion
• Language
• Miracles
• Tongue
• Tower

In the dictionaries

• Babel, tower of
• Begin
• Confound
• Earth
• Mesopotamia
• Noah
• Scatter
• Slime
• Tongues, Confusion of
• Abraham

Commentaries on Genesis 11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings